Nandankanan opens for visitors after remaining closed for 2 days

Bhubaneswar: After remaining closed for two days following damages at the Nandankanan Zoological Park caused by Nor'wester winds on June 1, the city zoo was thrown open to public today.

Visitors were seen standing in queues in large numbers to collect entry tickets at the zoo where the ticket fee has been hiked recently.

Devidutta, a visitor from a neighbouring State said, “I would like to congratulate the zoo authorities for early restoration to facilitate public visit at the zoological park.”

Detailing on the work and damages at the zoo, Kamal Lochan Purohit, assistant director of Nandankanan, said, “This is the fourth time the zoo has been closed due to natural calamities in recent past. More than 100 trees were damaged and power lines were snapped because of heavy wind caused by the Nor'wester. As ticket bookings and checking is done through computerized systems, entry of visitors was stopped due to the power failure. The restoration work took two days because of the severity of damages to 33Kv lines. Otherwise, there were minimal damages to animal enclosures at the zoo.”

Recently, the Nandankanan zoo authorities hiked fee for adults more than 12 years of age to Rs 40 from Rs 25 per head. No charges will be imposed for carrying film and digital camera inside the zoo.